ABSTRACT
What happens if we direct the analytical gaze of the sociology of the unmarked upon the activity itself of doing sociological research? Self-reflexively, this chapter recognizes that the investigation of sociocultural blind spots might well have its own scientific blind spots, also claiming that sociologists are ideally positioned to analyze their default assumptions and make the most out of them. Thus, this brief contribution clarifies why investigations on unmarked social features should focus on residual elements, trace-like information, and divergent observations in order to highlight the unremarkable significance of taken-for-grantedness. An approach focused on variations (rather than convergences) is, therefore, championed, arguing that data express meanings not only through the patterns they show but also through the patterns they do not show (sometimes, the patterns they cannot show).
